Ghana’s Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports, Hon. Evans Opoku Bobie has assured Ghanaians that the Black Stars will be fully prepared for the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar.
The minister is confident the 2010 quarter finalists will prepare in the right way for a successful World Cup despite their performance against Brazil and Nicaragua in their September friendlies.
Hon. Opoku Bobie disclosed on Atinka Tv’s Kick Off Sports Show that the Black Stars head coach used the Brazil game as a platform to identify cracks and Ghanaians should calm down.
Ghana will face a difficult task to emerge from Group H, having been drawn against Portugal, Uruguay, and South Korea.
Hon. Bobie, though, believes Ghana’s fate lies in their own hands and insists the determining factor in whether they are successful will be the the work they put in before the tournament begins.
“Every country that has qualified for the World Cup is ready. Whether you like it or not since you’ve qualified you are ready except to say you’ve pulled out but there is a punishment for that. As I sit today and speaking to you I think Ghana is ready for the World,” he stated.
In addition, he said, “GFA, the boys, Otto Addo and his technical team cannot use one day to prepare. It is preparation in continuous. We cannot base on Brazil, Nicaragua game to rate them or say we are ready that’s why we have the opportunity to prepare the team. The tournament is in November and we still have October (a full month) to prepare that will help Otto Addo to set up a good team. What I can say is that, I watched the game against Brazil. I will urge Ghanaians to calm down. We always say everyone is a coach in Ghana. It is true and I want the FA, the technical team to admit it because after Brazil game we followed the reactions on Social Media, the traditional media and others. We saw the analysis of Ghanaians and critics but Otto Addo listened and he worked with their concerns in Nicaragua game. We saw that they lifted up their game. As we progress, the preparation will be fully done for us to get a very strong team.
“Although Brazil did not go well but clearly in my opinion I saw Otto Addo using that game as a platform to identify the cracks in the team,” he told King Edward Akuffo.
